2013 Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S. "
Masa

Masa is widely considered America's top Japanese restaurant, and a rarified dinner here runs upwards of $450 per person. Masayoshi Takayama first became a sushi chef at Tokyo's legendary Ginza Sushi-ko. Moving to America, he was allowed to use the same name for his exclusive Beverly Hills establishment, which he later sold to protégé Hiroyuki Urasawa (who joins his master in the Top 40 with the re-christened Urasawa). At Takayama's Columbus Circle restaurant, seasonal fish is flown in daily from Japan, and the chef considers every omakase dinner to be a complete sensory experience.